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Charter Schools and Public School Choice

School choice is increasingly the new normal in urban education. But in cities with multiple public school options, how can civic leaders create a choice system that works for all families, whether they choose a charter or district school? To answer this question, CRPE has been studying the opportunities and challenges in “high-choice” cities. We have interviewed civic and education leaders and surveyed parents to identify challenges like uneven school quality and lack of transportation. We’ve also studied ways cities can overcome barriers, such as unified enrollment and common accountability systems, to learn what works and what needs to be refined.

Charter schools offer the potential to create high-performing public schools in districts typically plagued by poor student outcomes. Too often, however, the charter school debate is marred by biased research and polemics. Like all important reform efforts, credible research and analysis must accompany innovation. To assess whether charter schools are fulfilling their mission, we rigorously evaluate their performance, costs, and ability to address unique student needs. New data and evidence help innovators across the country collaborate, communicate, and develop best practices.

This report from the National Study of CMO Effectiveness provides key findings from the study on CMO practices, impacts, and the relationships between them. The updated report also examines longer-term impacts of CMOs on high...

This study of charter school unionization compared charter school collective bargaining agreements with traditional district contracts and found that, while the new contracts innovate in many ways, they could go much further given the opportunity...

This brief summarizes findings from The Effect of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: a Meta-Analysis of the Literature, a detailed assessment of the literature on student achievement in charter schools.

This one-pager outlines the 7 key components upon which the portfolio strategy is built.

This report infers the causal impact of attending a charter school on student performance and finds that whether charters outperform traditional public schools depends on the location, grade, and subject.

CRPE Senior Research Analyst Betheny Gross presented this overview of the latest evidence on choice policies including public school choice, vouchers, and charter schools at the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit 2011, in...

Drawing from the experiences of high-performing charter school networks, this white paper examines why districts struggle to close the achievement gap, what portfolio district leaders can find when they look outside the traditional system for...

In February 2011, the Center on Reinventing Public Education convened a conference to help districts implementing school choice under the U.S. Department of Education’s Voluntary Public School Choice program. This paper summarizes the two-day conversation...

This paper examines charter school leaders’ deliberate strategies to hire teachers who will boost student achievement and contribute to a thriving school culture.

This report focuses on the evidence to date on how students with special needs fare under choice, and promising new ideas that have yet to be tried.

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